Spinning apparatus.



4 SHEETS-SHEET 1- v IINIVENTOR Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

J. H. NICHOLSON.

SPINNING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED IuLYIs, I915.

.l. H. NICHOLSON.

SPINNING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION man 1uLY19. 1915.

1 Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

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-illl lili O O km In J. H. NICHOLSON.

SPINNING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION man JULY I9. 1915.

1,157,323. v Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

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WITNESSES J. H. NICHOLSON.

w 1 SPINNING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION 'FILED JULY 19. I915.

Patented oat. 19, 1915.

INVENTOR m A W JOHN H. NICHOLSON, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPINNING APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN H. NICHOLSON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spinning Apparatus, of which the following is-a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus used in spinning metal, and while not restricted to such use, more particularly relates to spinning apparatus used in forming the ends of tubular metal articles in making seamless metal tanks and bottles, shells, and similar articles having one or both ends closed with integrally formed end portions. Hereto-' fore in closing the ends of such articles by spinning, the articles have been positively rotated in a power driven lathe or spinning machine while the spinning tool which enages the work has been actuated manually.

uch operations require considerable manual labor, even with'the smaller sizes of such articles, while the physical strength and endurance of the workmen limits the size of such spun articles and restricts the daily output of the larger sizes possible to make by a workman by manually operating the spinning tool.

It has been proposed to manipulate the spinning tool mechanically in the spinning movements thereof by means of power driven and. power controlled tool actuating mechanism. The operation of the spinning tool in this manner, however, has been found impractical, by reason of the lack of sensi-' tiveness and on account of the absence of flexibility of the tool manipulating mechanism necessary in actuating the spinning tool by power mechanism.

One object of my invention is to provide a spinning machine having novel means whereby the spinning tool is power driven and manually controlled in the spinning operations.

Another object of my invention is to pro vide a spinning machine having improved means by which the increased power required to operate the'spinning tool in making the larger sizes of the spun articles, and necessary in securing a maximum output of such articles, is obtained without sacrifice in sensitiveness or flexibility of the tool operating mechanism, and wherein the extent of movement of the spinning tool is Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

Application filed July 19,1915. Serial No. 40,621.

under the control of the workman at all times.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a spinning machine having the novel construction and arrangement of parts shown and described in the specification and specifically pointed out in the appended claims. 1

Referring now to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure l is a plan showing a lathe or spinning machine having a tool carriage and carriage manipulating mechanism constructed and arranged in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal side elevation, partly in section, of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional elevation, on a larger scale, of the chuck end of the spinning machine showing the chuck by which the work is held and rotated in the spinning operations. Fig. 4 is a sectional end elevation, the section being taken on the line IVIV of Fig-3. Fig. 5 is a sectional end elevation, taken on the line VV of Fig. 1 showing the construction of the tool actuating and controlling mechanism as constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 6 is a detail plan, on an enlarged scale, of the tool carriage and carriage operating mechanism. Fig. 7 is a detail sectional end elevation, the section beingv taken on the line VIIVII of Fig. 3, showing the arrangement of lever arms employed in actuating the jaws of the work holding chuck.

In the accompanying drawings, the numeral 2 designates a hollow base or bedplate having a variable speed electric driving motor 3, hollow work rotating spindle 4, and-shears or ways 5, 5, for the spinning tool carriage 6 mounted-thereon. The fastening bolts 7 and 8 and slotted holes 9 and 10 enable the shears or ways 5 to be adjusted transversely and secured in adjusted position upon the ofl'set' upper surface 2 of the bedplate 2.

Mounted upon the ways 5, 5, so as to reciprocate in a path parallelwith the axis of the spindle 4 is the tool carriage 6. A feed screw 11 having a hand wheel 12 and handle 13 on one end (see Fig. 3) is employed to adjust the sliding carriage 6 upon the ways 5. 5, in moving the tool carriage toward and away from the rotary work holding spindle 4 in the operations of the spinning machine. 'The feed screw 11 is rotatably secured in the bracket bearing 14 on one end of the shears 5 and the threaded end'of this feed screw projects through the nut 15 pivotally mounted on the carriage 6. Positioned on the tool carriage 6 so as to turn or oscillate about a vertical axis, is a "swivel plate 16 which is provided with a roller bearing formed of balls 17 between race rings 18 and 19, and balls 20 between race rings 21 and 22. (See Fig. 5). This swivel plate bearing is also provided with axially vertical rollers 23 located between race rings 24 and 25. The swivel plate 16 and the balls, rollers,. and race rings therefor, forming the bearing therefor, are secured in place on the carriage 6 by means of a cap-plate 26 and bolts 27.

Extending through an axial opening inin the gear box 29 and keyed or fastened to its lower end is a worm wheel 32 which meshes with the worm 33 on one end section 34 of the horizontally extending sectional shaft 34 which extends lengthwise within the hollow base or bed plate, as will be explained later.

Secured by a pivot pin or bolt 35 to the top surface of the swivel plate 16 is a hand lever 36-having a fork on one end and a handle 37 on the other, (see Fig. 6), and pivoted to the forked end of the hand lever 36 is one end of a friction band 38. The friction band encircles the friction band wheel 31 on the upper end of the vertical shaft 30 and its other end is provided with a screw threaded bolt 39 and nut 40 by which this end of the friction .band 38 is adjustably secured to the lug 41 on the upper face of the swivel plate 16.

Movably mounted on top of the swivel plate 16 on the carriage 6 is a reciprocatory tool holder 42, this holder sliding on ways 43, 43, and being adjustably connected to the swivel plate 16 by an adjusting screw 44. A hand wheel 45 on one of its ends provides means for turning the adjusting screw 44 in adjusting the reciprocating tool holder 42 toward and away from the center of oscillation of the swivel plate 16. The holder 42 is provided with bolts 46 and clamping bars 47 to secure the spinning tool 48 in adjusted position thereon.

From the above description of the tool' carriage 6 it will be readily seen and understood that the spinning tool 48 is horizontally movable toward and away from the work holding chuck on the outer end of the spindle 4 and movable transversely of the line of travel of the carriage 6, and also that the end of the tool 48 can be swung in a circular path of various radii about the pivotal axis of the swivel plate 16.

It will also be readily seen and understood that when the operator moves the hand lever 36 to cause the friction band 38 to grip the band wheel or friction drum 31, the positively driven band wheel, through the friction band will exert a force tending to turn the swivel plate 16 and spinning tool 48 mounted thereon about the vertical axis of the band wheel'31 and shaft 30, and that the tighter the friction band is caused to turning force exerted by the band wheel on the swivel plate and tool. 5:

The spindle 4 of the spinning machine is rotatably mounted in bearings 49 and 50 which are secured on the bedplate 2 between the motor 3 and tool carriage 6. The rear bearing 49 is a thrust bearing which takes the end thrust put upon the spindle 4 by the spinning operation, and both of the bearings 49 and 50 preferably are standard ball or roller bearings of any approved type.

The front section of the spindle 4 is hollow or tubular and the rear section 4*, which is solid and of a smaller diameter. extends through the thrust bearing 49. The. rear end of the solid section 4 of the spindle 4 is directly connected by a flexible coupling 51 to the armature shaft 52 of the spinningmachine driving motor 3. Located on the outer end of the hollow spindle 4, which is screw threaded, is a counterbored annular chuck head 53, the counterbore having internal threads by which the head is attached to the threaded end of the spindle. The inner surface of the annular head 53 also has a series of four parallel sided slots 54, the bottom surface 55 of these slots tapering from end to end of the slots, (see Fig.

3). Secured in each of the slots '54 is one end of a flat, relatively thin, gripping-jaw bar 56, and removably secured on one end of each jaw bar 56, by means of cap screws or bolts 57, is a gripping jaw 58, (see Figs. 3 and 5). Being removable, any one set of the jaws 58 on the chuck head 53 may be readily removed and replaced by a set of larger or smaller jaws of a size to suit a extending lugs 59 on the inner surface of thespindle 4, adjacent to the outer end thereof, engage the side edgesof'the bars in guiding and maintaining the bars in position within the spindle 4 and head 53. Engagement of the sides of the bars 56 with the side surfaces of the lugs 59 and the slots 54 also prevents a relative rotary movement of the head on the spindle 4 when the parts of the chuck are assembled on the end of the spindle 4.

The rear end of each jaw bar 56 is provided with a recess into which one end of a bar supporting rod 60 projects, the rods 60 being adjustably secured in threaded holes 60* in the annular ring 61 within the hollow spindle 4 (see Figs. 3 and 7). The rods 60 project backwardly through the holes 60 and have squared rear ends which are opposite transverseopenings 62 in the side wall of the spindle 4 to permit turning of the rods in adjusting these rods lengthwise within the spindle.

Helical springs 63 on the rods 60 form means for shifting the jaw bars 56 lengthwise within the spindle 4 in the opening movement of the radially movable gripping jaws 58,- and the. flatbars 64 on the face of the chuck head 53 (see Fig. 5) form springs to move the jaws radially outward in retracting or opening the chuck jaws 58.

A tube 94 which varies in diameter to suit the size of the work is removably secured within the hollow spindle 4 to center and loosely maintain the tubes or other articles being spun in axial alinement with the spindle while being fastened to the chuck. The inner end of the tube 94 is detachably secured to the spindle and the outer end is held in adjusted position by means of radial set screws 95 and lock nuts 96 (see Fig.-

4). Secured on the spindle 4, behind the spindle bearing 50, so as to rotate with the spindle, is a hollow support 65 for the bell crank levers of the chuck, this support and the ring 61 on the interior of the spindle being fastened in place on the spindle 4 by means of the bolts 66 and 66 (see Figs. 4 and 7).

Pivoted within the hollow support 65 by pins 67 are bell crank levers 67, the inwardly extending short arms 68' of these levers projecting through transverse openings 69 in the wall of the spindle into transverse holes 70 in the gripping jaw bars 56 adjacent to the rear ends thereof.

The long arms of the levers 67 are forked, and pivoted in the fork of each lever arm is an anti-friction roller 71 which engages the conical surface of the lever actuating cone sleeve or collar 72 fastened on the spindle 4 to rotate therewith and slide thereon.

The rear end of the collar 72 has ,a periph-' eral flange 73 which is positioned within the recess 74 in the inner surface of the split ring 75. The split ring is pivotally se-' cured between the vertically extending cone shifting levers 76 to the upper ends of these levers. The levers 76 are keyed tov the horizontal shaft 77 on the bracket bearings 78 on the bed plate 2, and a bent lever 79 on one end of this shaft is connected by a link or reach rod 80 to the manually actuated chuck operating hand lever 81 which is located in a convenient position adjacent to the chuck end of the spindle 4 and tool ca-rriage6.

The lower end 82 of the lever 79 which is pivoted intermediate its ends to one end of the shaft 77 is arranged to engage with the knees 83 and.84 to limit the swinging movement of the lever 79 and operating hand lever 81, the knees being adjustably secured on the side of the bedplate 2 to vary the extent of swinging movement of the lever 79.

The worm 33 meshing with the worm; wheel 32 is secured to one end section of the shaft by means of a feather key so as to slide thereon when the carriage 6 is reciprocated on the ways 5, 5, of the bed plate 2.-

Universal joints 85 are employed to" connect the adjacent ends of the sections of the shaft 34 (as is shown in Figs. 2 and 3) and the short shaft section 34 on the rear end of the shaft 34 is provided with a worm wheel 87 which meshes with a worm 86 on the lower end of the vertically extending shaft 88 which is mounted in bearings 89 secured on the bedplate 2 at a point between the rear spindle bearing and the spindle driving motor 3. The upper end of this shaft 88 is provided with a bevel gear 90 which meshes with the driving bevel gear 91 on the reduced portion 4 of the spindle 4 so that the sectional horizontal shaft 34 and the wheel or drum 31 on the upper end of the vertically extending shaft 30 on the tool carriage 6 are positively driven at all times when the motor 3 is in operation. A hood or safety cover 92 fixed to the base plate 2 surrounds the bell crank levers and lever operating mechanism, and a box 93 is em ployed on top of the swivel plate 16 to cover the friction band 38 and friction wheel 31.

Preparatory to starting the spinning machine in operation, a tube 94 of the required size is secured in adjusted position within the hollow spindle 4. The article is then secured in the chuck and the spinning tool 48 is secured on the tool holder and is then adjusted in proper position relative to the end of the article to be operated upon by manipulating the hand wheels to adjust the tool carriage 6 and tool holder 42 on the ways 5, 5, of the bedplate.

In the operation of my improved apparatus, the motor 3is started so as to positively rotate the spindle 4 in the bearings 49 and 50. When the spindle rotates, the sectional shaft 34 located within the hollow base or bedplatev 2 also is caused to rotate, and through the worm 33 and worm wheel 32 connecting this shaft with the vertical shaft 30-causes theband wheel 31 on the upper surface of the swivel plate 16 to be positively rotated.

One end of a section of pipe or other tubular article to be operated upon, or spun, is heated in a furnace to a dull red heat. The heated article is then inserted within the hollow spindle 4 with the heated end I projecting outwardly to the desired extent, beyond the face of the chuck jaws 58 on the chuck end of the spindle. The hand lever 81is then operated by the workman to throw the cone sleeve 72 forwardly or from left to right in Fig. 3. This movement of the sleeve 72 which slides on the spindle 4, moves the levers 67 pivoted on the sup port 65 at the rear end of the bearing 50. The radially outward movement of the rear ends of the levers 67 moves the jaw bars 56 within the spindle and through the tapering faces on the end of these bars forces the clutch jaws 58 radially inward into gripping engagement with the heated blank posi-. tioned within the hollow spindle 4. The operator then grasps the handle 37 of the lever 36 connected to the friction band 38 on top of the swivel plate 16 and by moving the outer end of this lever causes the friction band 38 to engage with the rotating band wheel 31 which is constantly rotating while the motor 3 is driving the spindle 4. As the friction band 38 is brought into frictional engagement with the band wheel 31, the band wheel acts to turn the swivel plateabout a vertical axis, and this movement of the swivel plate brings the end of the spinning tool 48 into engagement with the rotating work, moving the end of the tool 48 in a circular path the center of which is the axis of rotation of the vertical shaft 30. The radius of the arc of movement of the end of the tool depends upon the distance the end of the tool is adjusted away from the axial center of the vertical shaft 30. After the friction band 38 and friction wheel 31 are used to swing the end of the spinning tool through an arc of movement of approximately 90 degrees, the hand lever 36 is moved manually in the opposite direction (or from right to left in Fig. 6). This movement of the lever releases the friction band and manually moves the swivel plate 16 until again in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 6. The tool 48 is then adjusted closer to the article being operated upon by turning the hand wheel for adjusting the tool holder, and when necessary the hand wheel is turned to adjust the carriage on the shears 5, 5, toward the chuck. The friction band 38 is then again operated by moving the hand lever 36 from left to right in Fig. 1, so as to again cause the friction band to en-" gage with the rotating friction wheel 31. The friction wheel acts through-the engaging friction band to turn the swivel plate 16 and again move the end of the spinning tool 48 through its arc of movement while in engagement with the end of the tubular article being spun and further shape the end of the article. Similar adjustments and operations to what have been described are then repeated as often as necessary in spinning the end of the tube to the desired contour. The friction caused by engagement of the spinning tool with the work adds to the heat of the article, so that the end of the article being spun is found to be fused or welded and the spun article will have an integrally closed end without seams or joints. The above described operations are then repeated with other articles, as has been described.

The advantages of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in. the art. The apparatus is simple and is easily kept in repair. By the use of the positively driven friction wheel and manually operated friction band the swinging movements of the spinning tool are manually controlled and positively actuated. By varying the force of pull on the friction band lever the power transmitted to the swivel plate and tool by the power driven friction wheel is increased or lessened, so that the manual labor required in spinning large, heavy articles is materially reduced, while the sensitiveness of the movement of the spinning toolis not lessened and retains the flexibility of the hand operated spinning tool.

Modifications in the construction and arrangement of the apparatus may be made without departing from my invention, as defined in the appended claims.

I claim 1. A. spinning machine comprising a rotary power driven work-holding chuck, a swinging spinning tool, and means for positively moving said tool into operative engagement with the work in said chuck, said means including a positively driven manually controlled friction clutch.

2. A spinning 'machine comprising a power driven rotary spindle having a workholding chuck thereon, means for opening and closing the chuck, a spinning tool carriage, a positively driven friction clutch on the carriage, and a manually controlled lever for operating said clutch in manipulating the spinning tool on said carriage.

3. A spinning machine comprising a power driven spindle having a work-holding chuck thereon, means for opening and closingthe chuck, a spinning tool carriage having a tool holding swivel plate. and

'mechanism for turning the swivel plate to swing the spinning tool, said mechanism having a positively rotated friction wheel, a friction band encircling said wheel, and a 'hand lever arranged to move the friction band into engagement with the friction power driven spindle having a work-hold ing chuck thereon, means for opening and closing the chuck, a spinning tool carriage having a tool holding swivel plate, and mechanism for turning the swivel plate to swing the spinning tool, said mechanism having a friction wheel, wheel driving means operatively connecting the spindle and friction wheel, a friction band encircling said wheel and a hand lever arranged to move the friction band intoengagement with the friction wheel to thereby mechanically swing the spinning tool into operative engagement with the work and manually control said swinging movement.

- 5. A spinning machine comprising a power driven spindle having a work-holding chuck-thereon, means for opening and closing the chuck, a tool carriage adjustable toward and away from said chuck, a swivel plate movably mounted on the carriage, a tool holderon the swivel plate movable toward and away from the center of said swivel plate, and means for positively actuating said swivel plate, said means including a friction wheel'and friction band and a manually operated hand lever for moving the friction band into gripping engagement with the friction wheel in actuating said spinningtool.

. In testimony my hand.

whereof I have hereunto set JOHN H NICHOLSON.

Witnesses:

F. E. BRowN, G. P. MCCUFF. 

